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J. C. BRIGGS.

y Reed Organ. No. 229,369. Patented June 29,- 1880.

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J. C. BRIGG'S.

Reed Organ. No. 229,369. Patented June 29,1880.

N.PErERS. PHOTOMTMOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, o c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN C. BRIGGS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MASON St HAMLIN ORGAN COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

REED-ORGAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,369, dated. June 29, 1880.

Application filed December 16, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JOI-1N O. Bnrees, of Boston, in the county .of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and 5 usefullmprovements in Reed-Organs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

As well known, in reed-organs each valve is closed and kept closed by a spring, and is 1o opened and kept opened against such spring by pressing downward upon the linger end of its key.

The object of my invention is to assist the flngers of the player to depress the keys of an organ, and at the same time to leave said keys normally under full, control of their closingsprings; and it consists in a spring which is arranged and adapted ior adjustment in relation to the valve to exert a continuous presszo ure thereon against its spring, but a pressure less than that of such spring while the key is out of its normal position of rest, but when so at rest and the valve is closed to leave the valve practically subject to the full pressure z 5 of its own closing-spring.

In the accompanying two plates of drawings, the several iigures, l, 2, and 3, are Views, in side elevation, with parts broken out in vertical section, of'a key and valve arranged and 3o connected together as ordinarily, and of a spring capable of acting substantially alike as to assisting the opening of the valve against its spring, in the manner described, and as will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings, A represents an organkey; B, the valve; C, the spring to the valve, and D the pusher-stem, through which the key opens the valve when the fin ger end of the key is depressed, and through which the key is 4o raised by the spring of the valve when the pressure on the finger end of the key is removed, all as ordinarily; E, a button on the pusher-stein in the chamber F, below the key and above the reed-board or chamber G; H,

4 5 a horizontal lever under and in line with the key A. This lever at one end is in contact with the upper side of the push-stem button E, and at its other end, toward the rear end of the key, itturns on a fulcrum, a, of a stationary rail, b, so as to swing in a vertical 5o plane.

J is a spring-arm below the key, and iixed at one end, c, and adapted at its other end, d, and in itself, as will hereinafter appear, to act on the lever H, and through it on thc pusherstem button E, and in so acting to exert a downward pressure through the lever H on the valve B against its spring (but at any and all times to exert a pressure less than the pressnre oi' the valve-spring) when the key is in 6o motion in either direction, downward or npward, or in any other position except its normal position oi' rest, which is when the valve is closed, and when thekey is in its said normal position of rest to be practically and substantially free otl pressure in a downward direction through the lever H on the pusher-stem button, leaving the valve then free to substantially the full force of its spring, to be by the pressure oi such spring kept in a closed )osi- 7o tion until such force or pressure is overcome.

Figure l shows the above described adaptation of the spring-arm J and lever H, with mechanism as follows:

K is a toggle-lever composed of two arms, L and M, jointed, end to end, at f, and disposed below and along the length of lever H, where at one end, g, it is jointed to the springarm J, which is vertical, horizontally crossing it, and at the other end, h, to a stationary 8o block, Z, located near the valve pusher stem D. This spring J is arranged to press on the toggle-lever in'a line substantially coincident with a straight line drawn through the said three points of articulation of the toggle-lever, and to follow up such pressure as the toggle-lever bends or moves either upwardly or downwardly.

The joint between the togglelever K and spring-arm consists of a notch, m, in the spring- 9o arm and a notch, n, in the lever, the two notches interlocking, as it were, with each other; and this construction serves to keep the lever always at one point of articulation with the spring-arm J, while at the same time the parts can move or roll on each other.

The joint between the togglelever K and stationary block l is simply a parchment hinge in a supplementary block, o, screwed to the said stationary block.

Nis aheaded pin passingfrom upper side of and loosely through lever H, and screwing into a block, p, hinged by parchlnent to the upper side ot' toggle-lever K, near its central articulation, j', and between the same and its end articulation at the stationary block Z.

g is a felted washer between lever H and hinged block p, covering the length of such portion ot' said pin N.

O is a headed pin passing .from the upper side of and loosely through the lever H and screwing int-o the stationary block l, having the togglelever K jointed to it. This pin, by its head, arrests the upward swing, and the stationary block limits the downward swing of the lever H, and obviously, by simply screwing said pin into or ont ot' the block Z, the height of upward swing of the lever H may be regulated as desired, consistent with the length ot the pin, and as to the downward swing ot' the lever H, that may be regulated in many obvious ways.

With a toggle-lever, K, and lever H applied to a pusher-stem, D, and connected and arranged together as described, and a springarm, J, adapted to press on the toggle-lever directly in a straight line through its three points of articulation, it is obvious that if the three points ot articulation be in a straight line no movement of the toggle-lever will occur, and that if either of them be placed out of such line in either direction, then the toggle-lever, under the pressure of said springarm, will be moved or bent in that direction, whichever it may be; and as it is now arranged and connected, it' such movement be in an upward direction, the lever H will be simply pressed against the head oi' screw-pin O, as it is stationary, which thus holds it from movement, and it' such movement be in a downward direction the lever H will be pressed against the button on the pusher-stem to valve,i`orcin g said push-stem downward, it' such pressure be sufficient of itself to overcome the force of the spring on the valve B, but, if not sufficient of itself, acting to assist the key in such depression of the valve when the key at its iin ger end is pressed upon by the n ger for such purpose.

Such being the principle of operation of the spring-arm J, toggle-lever K, and lever H, applied together and to the pusher-stem D ot a valve, B, as above described, in order to accomplish with them the object ot' this invention, as has been hereinbefore stated, the spring-arm, even with allits opportunities for leverage on the pusher-stem, as above stated, is regulated or adapted to exert a lesser degree of pressure, even when exerting its greatest pressure, than the degree of pressure eX- erted by the spring C on the valve to keep the valve closed, and the several points oi" articulation ot' the toggle-lever K, through either one or both of the screw-pins, together with the spring-action of spring-arm, are adjusted so that when the valve is closed and the key is at rest the lever H will be in contact with the button E ot' the pusher-stem, and in such contact have no practical or substantial downward pressure upon it from the pressure of the spring-arm on the toggle-lever K, while the instant such button begins to leave its said contact with the lever H from pressing on the tinger end ot' the key it willimmediately exert the pressure which is in the spring-arm, acting through the toggle-lever thereon, and follow with such pressure the continued downward movement ot' the said push-stem button as the iin ger end of the key continues to be depressed, thereby obviously automatically assisting to that extent in the opening oi the valve against its spring, and giving to the key a lighter touch and otherwise improving' it in feeling and sensitiveness ot' operation and movement, to the advantage ofthe player.

In the removal of the pressure applied to the finger end ot the key to depress it, and through it the valve against its spring, the valve-spring then acts as ordinarily, to close the valve, forcing by its pressure the key back to its normal position ot' rest, and through the button on the pusher-stein the lever H, togglelever K, and spring-arm J also back to their normal position ot` rest, as hereinbef'ore described.

Figs. 2 and 3 each show mechanism, in connection with a key, A, and valve B, for the purposes of this invention.

In the mechanism ot' Fig. 2 the lever H isin one piece, or rigidly attached to one arm, L, of the toggle-lever. The end articulation or joint ot' such toggle-arm L is made yielding or elastic, and the spring-arm J is located at the end of the toggle-lever toward the pusher-stem D for the valve B. In these respects the mechanism of FiO. 2 diers from that ot' Fig. l; but even with such differences, which obviously are of detail and not ot' essential elements, the mechanism of Fig. 2 is, to all intents and purposes, practically and substantially identical in construction, arrangement, and operation, and therefore needs no more particular description herein.

In the mechanism of FiO. 3 the spring-arm J is arranged to act directly on the lever H, instead of through an interposed toggle-lever, as in the mechanisms of Figs. 1 and 2, and in this respect differs from both of the same; but while it is preferable to employ the principle of action of the toggle-lever between the spring-arm J and the lever H, which directly presses on the button of the push-stem to assist in the opening of the valve, as described, it isplain that it' the spring-arm be adapted and applied directly to the lever H, so as to press substantially and practically in a direction along its length toward its fulcrum when the lever is in a horizontal or level position, and also that it' it .be capable of exerting a downward pressure on the lever, if, as the 1ever swings below such horizontal position, such arrangement of spring-arm with a lever,

lOO

IIO

H, by being properly adjusted and regulated, substantially as in the other mechanisms, accomplishes the object aimed at, and in a manner and under conditions substantially and practically similar to those in the mechanisms previously described, and shown in Figs. 1 and 2, as is apparent without further explanation.

In the two plates of drawings there are several views, in detail, of the mechanism which has been herein described, and as their character is obvious from inspection and the letters of reference attached to them, it is not deemed necessary to herein more particularly refer to them.

In one plate, Figzt shows theleverH as between two buttons on the pusher-stem, the one E below, and another, E2, above, the lever, and this latter or upper one, E2, should the center articulation of the toggle-lever K be above a line running through the two end articulations, carries the toggle-lever below such line as the pusher-stem is pressed down by the key, and thereby puts the toggle-lever into proper position for it to assist, as has been described, in the opening of the valve. This connection between the pusher-stem l) and lever H interlocks the one with the other, and this may be secured, obviously, in many other ways.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination', with a key and its spring-closed valve ofa reed-organ, of a spring` which is arranged and adapted for adjustment to exert a continuons pressure upon the valve against its closing-spring, but a pressure less than that of said closing-spring, while the key is out of its normal position, and when at rest and the valve closed to leave said valve practically subject to the full pressure of its closing-spring, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a key and valve ot' a reed-organ, oi' a lever H, resting at one end on a projection ot' the pusher-rod D, a togglelever, K, connected to the lever H, and a spring, J, pressing lengthwise of the togglelever, all combined and arranged to operate substantially as described.

3. A spring-band secured at its two ends, a lever hung upon a fulcrum at 011e end and at its other end at rest upon the upper side ot' a shoulder on the valve-stem, and a link pin or connection for the band and lever, in combination with the valve-key, substantially as described.

4. A link pin or connection for a lever and a spring-band, combined and arranged to opcrate upon a valve-stem of an organ, provided with an elastic cushion and screw-nut, substantially as described.

5. In an organ-action, the combination, with the key and the vertical stem for actuating the valve, of a spring-actuated toggle-lever and a rigid horizontal lever connected therewith and having one end interloeked with the valve-stein, substantially as described, whereby said lever is positively moved both downward and upward, as and for the purposes set forth.

JOHN C. BRIGGS.

Witnesses v EDWIN W. BROWN, W. S. BELLoWs. 

